Friend
by Xylena
Summary: The rain was falling heavier now and Bolin regretted his decision to leave the bunker. Mako would never let him go out alone, but this was his choice. They needed food. However, he would find something far more valuable than any meal - a new friend.


Bolin coughed. The rain was falling heavier now and he regretted his decision to leave the bunker. Mako would never let him go out alone, but this was his choice. He had seen their stash of food, and no matter how much his big brother tried to hide it, Bolin knew that there just wasn't enough.

_I know where to get food,_ Mako had said that morning. _We're going to be all right. Don't worry about it._

Bolin knew better. Their stash was nearly empty now, and he began to fear the worst. The regulars back at the Central Station had stopped coming. The flow of leftovers from that friendly family had halted, and now the realities of hunger were setting in for real. He clutched at his stomach, feeling it growl impatiently. The rain was drenching him now, digging through his tattered clothes to his skin, plastering his thick hair to his face. He had to keep looking.

The street around him was silent except for the drumming of the rain on metal rooftops and the spattering of tiny waterfalls from the gutters. The dark clouds had choked out the brown glow of the light pollution, leaving the child in black shadows. However, he didn't turn back. He refused to come back to the bunker only to see his brother's gaunt face and hear his assurances of _We're going to be all right_. He was old enough now to understand the gravity of their situation. Mako's excuses just weren't good enough anymore.

A light charged at him from around a corner, and Bolin leaped out of the way as a Satomobile screeched across the wet pavement, splashing the boy in a shower of frigid water. He felt his heart racing, thinking about how closely he had avoided being run over. Once he had stopped shaking, he continued forward.

Bolin turned off the street and found himself entering a narrow, trash-filled alley. Clearly, no one had ever cared to clean up this place, where criminals and strays prowled like predators at night. This was truly the heart of Republic City's slums.

He climbed over the mounds of trash, his tiny body barely able to slush through them. Desperate thoughts were crawling into his head. Maybe he could find something in the soggy piles, anything at all that could fill his waiting stomach. He rummaged through one of the piles, his fingers becoming sticky with wet paper shreds, discarded oil, and the dark slime of unknown materials.

Before he knew it, tears were welling up in his eyes. He stumbled backward off the pile and sat curled up in the middle of the alley, his grubby hands shielding his face from the rain. How could the world have thrown him into this mess? What had he done wrong? He tried not to think about it, but the thoughts just wouldn't go away. The world seemed like such a bright place to him before, but for some reason, now it only felt like an empty pit. His entire body began to shiver, not with the cold of the rain, but with his stinging tears. Bolin tried to stop, but the sobs wouldn't quit, and this time, Mako wasn't with him to comfort him. How he now missed those words: _We're going to be all right._

Something rustled in the trash behind him. Bolin sprung to his feet, levitating a rock to throw at any punk who might try to hurt him. He thought about how weak he must look right now, his eyes stained red with tears, his whole body trembling. No one would ever fear a nine-year-old boy like him.

However, this time it wasn't a stray kid or gangster. A small creature had appeared from under a mound of trash, looking up at him with beady eyes. Bolin thought about what to do. The rock was still floating above his palm. With a well-placed strike, he could kill the poor thing, and maybe Mako could cook it up for them. But he couldn't do it. He saw the fear in its eyes, the rigidity of its starved body, and each matted hair standing on end. This animal was just as scared and hungry as he was. The stone fell to the ground and the creature jerked back in hesitation. Bolin slowly leaned over to it and held out his hand, hoping that it might come out. He didn't know why, but something drew him to this furry thing from the moment he saw it.

A little black nose twitched nervously, and the creature gradually crawled out from the garbage and approached his open palm. Its red-and-white fur was mangled, stained black from dirt and oil. A red stripe of a cut lashed its muzzle, probably caused by a fight with some other alley animal.

"Come on," Bolin said as softly as possible, "it'll be all right. I won't hurt you."

Its tiny paw touched his fingertip. The little creature cooed and brushed its head gently against his palm.

Bolin carefully picked up the little animal, hoping that he wouldn't scare it. "You're a fire ferret, aren't you? I hope you didn't get lost from your cage…"

Something told him that this animal had never known the comfort of a human home. There was some wildness, some loneliness in its black eyes. It had been in the streets all its life, living in fear of all the bigger, scarier animals of the world. Bolin thought about himself and his brother. Was their nightmare any different?

The fire ferret crawled up his arm and curled its lean body over his shoulder, making a soft purring sound against his ear. "I think I'll call you Pabu," he said. He remembered the name from that kind family who gave him scraps in the Station: they had a bearded cat with that name. "Let's go home, buddy."

Bolin rose to his feet and wormed his way out of the cramped alley. His stomach was still empty, and now his whole body was freezing from the rain. However, he had found something far better than food. He had found his new best friend.

.

.

"Bolin!"

The voice was half drowned by the rain, but Bolin still heard it. He broke into a run toward the familiar sound of his brother, keeping a hand on his new friend so that he didn't fall. At this speed, the rain slanted into his eyes, so he ducked his head down.

The arms of his big brother stopped him. In some dark edge of the street, the two embraced each other. Pabu squirmed onto Mako's shoulder as the brothers let go. Mako shouted as the ferret crawled onto his shirt, wiggling around his neck and back. Frantically, he flailed his hands around his body, sending licks of flame into the air to burn the creature off.

"Stop!" Bolin cried. "You'll hurt him!"

The scared fire ferret managed to jump off Mako's back and run past Bolin's legs. It clutched his ankle and snarled at its attacker.

Mako lowered his jagged eyebrows with flames still hovering in his hands. The fire hissed as drops of rain struck it. "What is that…?" he began to ask. Then, he realized something. "…Give it to me."

"Why?" Bolin crossed his arms. "Pabu's my friend."

"No, he's dinner," said Mako. "Give him here."

"No!"

This took Mako aback. He couldn't remember a single time when his little brother had said that to him. His word had been law for as long as they had lived in the streets. Mako tried to think of a response, but he found himself at a loss for words.

Bolin seemed to notice his brother's look of shock and confusion. He looked down shamefully at his new friend, who was still curled around his ankle. The water from the ground was both drenching and cleaning his fur, and now some of the natural red was showing through.

"I just want to keep him," Bolin said, much quieter than before. "Look at him. He's like us."

Mako extinguished his flames and shook his head. "We can't deal with something else tagging along with us. Better to put him out of his misery. Now give him to me."

"I won't let you," said the little brother darkly. "He wouldn't be a good meal, anyway. He's just as skinny as we are."

Mako wasn't liking his brother's tone—it was almost disarming. For him to seem so threatened and upset because of some rat he found off the street…Did he really consider this animal some sort of friend?

"We can't keep him," he said. "It's just another mouth to feed. We need to save food, remember?"

"I'll find him food," insisted Bolin. "I promise. I won't let him get in the way. Just please let me keep him." He looked up at his brother, his green eyes wide. They glinted sadly in the dim glow of a streetlight, and the ghost of a tear was already forming.

Mako exhaled fiercely. "All right, fine. But if he makes our lives harder, then he's gone. You hear me?"

"Yes!" Bolin grabbed the fire ferret and jumped in the air before swinging it around him in a dance. "I'll take great care of you. You're going to be all right!"

Mako sighed and rolled his eyes at his brother's antics, but his heart secretly warmed inside. No sound was as sweet as his brother's shouts of happiness. If this new pet could bring Bolin just that bit of joy in the world, then so be it. He couldn't complain.


End file.
